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Home Schooling vs Public Schools

Im very curious about the difference in home school and public school. How do you get the curriculum? What about testing and grades or state exams? Do you get a diploma? Does it make it hard for you to get accepted into college or get a job being home schooled?

I've been thinking about this for the last few days. I wanted to come on here and post a question myself about homeschooling, but it looks like you beat me to it :) What about the parents homeschooling? Are they really educated? I mean, I'm an adult who did fairly well in school ... but I can't remember algebra or calculus. What happens when your kids start asking questions you can't answer? I'm just wondering about what kind of qualifications parents have to teach their children. I'm obviously not talking about elementary work, just the hard stuff in high school. I'd be afraid to homeschool. I want my kids to have qualified teachers ... and I'll admit it, when it comes to certain subjects, I'm most definitely not it!

Lots of people are doing it these days though. Why? It's almost turned into the latest "hip" thing to do. Seems like everyone I know is or is planning on homeschooling their children. My kids go to public school and we're evidently in the minority. I'm not knockin' it, I'm just genuinely curious ...

Actually a parents level of education has almost nothing to do with how successful a child will be.

When you get to the "hard" subjects you can join a co-op, hire a tutor, barter with another mom, use an online program, but also going back over the info yourself will jog your memory and you may understand it differently than you did in high school. I also know several families who send their child to a local college for a subject. Also, let's not forget that dad is also available to teach.

You, as a public schooler, are certainly not in the minority, but there is def more info about it. when we go to the library in the middle of the day and see another mom there with her older kids it's a good bet she's a homeschooler and when she's done working I'm going to ask her. Once you meet one homeschooling family...you find the rest, lol. It is also a lot more organized now, especially with utilizing facebook and yahoo groups. even the library puts all their events up on facebook so we know that there will be an elementary book club meeting on tuesdays at 10:30...there's a good bet it's mostly homeschoolers, kwim??

Quoting Anonymous:

I've been thinking about this for the last few days. I wanted to come on here and post a question myself about homeschooling, but it looks like you beat me to it :) What about the parents homeschooling? Are they really educated? I mean, I'm an adult who did fairly well in school ... but I can't remember algebra or calculus. What happens when your kids start asking questions you can't answer? I'm just wondering about what kind of qualifications parents have to teach their children. I'm obviously not talking about elementary work, just the hard stuff in high school. I'd be afraid to homeschool. I want my kids to have qualified teachers ... and I'll admit it, when it comes to certain subjects, I'm most definitely not it!

Lots of people are doing it these days though. Why? It's almost turned into the latest "hip" thing to do. Seems like everyone I know is or is planning on homeschooling their children. My kids go to public school and we're evidently in the minority. I'm not knockin' it, I'm just genuinely curious ...

1. The school system in their area bothers them (maybe the kids in that district aren't learning what the parents feel the children should learn, maybe that school district has a higher volume of crime, etc)

2. Religious reasons.

3. The school system isn't equipped to adequately teach their child (kids do not learn by a timeline- maybe your kid learned to read at 7, while another kid learned to read at 4; some kids learn through a different method that the school isn't equipped for (like a kinesthetic learner).

4. The teachers in their area weren't communicative, and there was no other school to transfer to, so the parents decided to homeschool.

The list goes on and on.

Quoting Anonymous:

I've been thinking about this for the last few days. I wanted to come on here and post a question myself about homeschooling, but it looks like you beat me to it :) What about the parents homeschooling? Are they really educated? I mean, I'm an adult who did fairly well in school ... but I can't remember algebra or calculus. What happens when your kids start asking questions you can't answer? I'm just wondering about what kind of qualifications parents have to teach their children. I'm obviously not talking about elementary work, just the hard stuff in high school. I'd be afraid to homeschool. I want my kids to have qualified teachers ... and I'll admit it, when it comes to certain subjects, I'm most definitely not it!

Lots of people are doing it these days though. Why? It's almost turned into the latest "hip" thing to do. Seems like everyone I know is or is planning on homeschooling their children. My kids go to public school and we're evidently in the minority. I'm not knockin' it, I'm just genuinely curious ...

There are a LOT of resources out there these days for homeschooled children. My brother takes college classes for calculus and physics, the classes that my mom does not feel capable teaching on her own. He also has a Spanish tutor or something like that (I think it is through a co-op). My dad had a bachelors degree, my mother did not and they managed to homeschool three children. Neither of my in-laws has a college degree and they homeschooled 5 children quite well. As I said, there are many resources available :)

Quoting Anonymous:

I've been thinking about this for the last few days. I wanted to come on here and post a question myself about homeschooling, but it looks like you beat me to it :) What about the parents homeschooling? Are they really educated? I mean, I'm an adult who did fairly well in school ... but I can't remember algebra or calculus. What happens when your kids start asking questions you can't answer? I'm just wondering about what kind of qualifications parents have to teach their children. I'm obviously not talking about elementary work, just the hard stuff in high school. I'd be afraid to homeschool. I want my kids to have qualified teachers ... and I'll admit it, when it comes to certain subjects, I'm most definitely not it!

Lots of people are doing it these days though. Why? It's almost turned into the latest "hip" thing to do. Seems like everyone I know is or is planning on homeschooling their children. My kids go to public school and we're evidently in the minority. I'm not knockin' it, I'm just genuinely curious ...

There are a variety of options for higher level work. Some parents simply learn ahead of their children and it works out well. Some boxed curriculums offer extras such as DVDs, online tutors, and phone help. Some parents hire a private tutor. Some families are involved with co-ops and there are often a lot of people to choose from for help if a particular subject is not a strong area for the parent and many even have classes that meet for particular subjects.

Quoting Anonymous:

I've been thinking about this for the last few days. I wanted to come on here and post a question myself about homeschooling, but it looks like you beat me to it :) What about the parents homeschooling? Are they really educated? I mean, I'm an adult who did fairly well in school ... but I can't remember algebra or calculus. What happens when your kids start asking questions you can't answer? I'm just wondering about what kind of qualifications parents have to teach their children. I'm obviously not talking about elementary work, just the hard stuff in high school. I'd be afraid to homeschool. I want my kids to have qualified teachers ... and I'll admit it, when it comes to certain subjects, I'm most definitely not it!

Lots of people are doing it these days though. Why? It's almost turned into the latest "hip" thing to do. Seems like everyone I know is or is planning on homeschooling their children. My kids go to public school and we're evidently in the minority. I'm not knockin' it, I'm just genuinely curious ...

by Anonymous 3
on Sep. 14, 2012 at 9:48 PM

1 mom liked this

Yes, because you know all the homeschoolers.

Quoting SavannahV:

idk, but i think public is best because children who are home schooled tend to not have normal social skills.

I've been thinking about this for the last few days. I wanted to come on here and post a question myself about homeschooling, but it looks like you beat me to it :) What about the parents homeschooling? Are they really educated?

By educated, do you mean formal schooling, or being informed and possessing skills? I only have a HS diploma, but I feel I am fairly well educated from my own endeavors.

I mean, I'm an adult who did fairly well in school ... but I can't remember algebra or calculus.

So what does that say about the value of traditional education? And just think of all the time that you gave up to learn those subjects!

What happens when your kids start asking questions you can't answer?

You get help, or you challenge them to find the answers themselves. What do you, as an adult, do when you have questions? I think it's a great skill to encourage in kids to seek out information for themselves.

I'm just wondering about what kind of qualifications parents have to teach their children. I'm obviously not talking about elementary work, just the hard stuff in high school. I'd be afraid to homeschool. I want my kids to have qualified teachers ... and I'll admit it, when it comes to certain subjects, I'm most definitely not it!

The best qualification I have for teaching my own child, is that I am the most invested in his education, and that I know my child best. The rest, we take on as it comes. There are loads of resources out there for parents. There are even pre-packaged self-guided course that high school students can do on their own.

Lots of people are doing it these days though. Why? It's almost turned into the latest "hip" thing to do. Seems like everyone I know is or is planning on homeschooling their children. My kids go to public school and we're evidently in the minority. I'm not knockin' it, I'm just genuinely curious ...

For me, it had nothing to do with being "the thing to do". It had to do with the repeated failing of the public school to do right by my child. Over the years, my opinions and philosophies on homeschooling have evolved, and I have so many reasons for feeling better about homeschooling now. One of my primary concerns after all my experience is the fact that the American public education system is woefully out of touch with our global future. Schools are still following the model that there is a "formula for success", when the truth is, there is no formula for success.. The key survival skills in the futre are going to be innovativeness, courage, logic, reason, and adaptability. These are all things that homeschooling and alternative schools teach.

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